Well. If Glen Beck is predicting it we can all rest easy. I think I agree with the folks who say that in this kind of a scenario, our HTs are not going to be a major concern. What is just silly is all of this talk of guns. Anyone who thinks they can defend themselves against some general anarchy with a 40 mm bofors or some such has obviously never served much time in the military not to mention been watching the news.

If the economic wheels do come off the safest place to be is not in the hills hunting snipe for dinner and fending off packs of ravening city folk. It is right in next door to the biggest military base or police station you can find.

But never fear. Beck's doomsday is not going to happen. We may go through some tough times before we decide to boot the free traders and start making stuff again but we will all do just fine.

If it makes you feel potent to imagine being the hero of some post apocalyptic saga; roaming the world sprouting antenna and armed with the latest 50 caliber, fero-cement, full automatic assault rifle, perhaps you should reconsider. If you want to be a hero in this new dark age you imagine get smart. Become a farmer and everyone else will gather around and protect you.

The most sense on here.It makes me laugh that, in the UK especially, all of the 'bunkers' which would protect 10-40 people would be full of politicians and people who worked in 'high up' jobs for the council.IF there was an event which meant those that stayed outside a bunker were likely to get fried (apart from those with an amateur radio antenna, of course) then I wouldn't pick 30 politicians...I'd have a farmer, a butcher, a baker, (a candle stick maker), an electrician, a plumber, a builder, a doctor, and lots of strong people to rebuild the chaos they find when they emerge however many years later. I'd love to see 30 politicians trying to rebuild a house (including plumbing and electrics), start a new farm, breed-kill-and-butcher some animals, and to have the medical knowledge to deal with people when the worst happens.

We'd of course need a radio ham or two. How else would we talk to everyone else (despite them being dead)?

Pop in a few 'happy couples' as well, to begin the mating process... and that's my list of ideal people for a bunker!

So your solution to the growing US/China money issue is to go buy more radio make in china?

But they're so AFFORDABLE

at least they're not made by unions.

Communism is better than unions?

Anyway, one concern might be spare parts, batteries, etc. Pretty much all electronics have been off-shored to Asia at this point. My most recent purchase (Yaesu FT-60R) was made in Japan, the battery was made in China. If we ever enter into a trade war, see a disruption of shipping, huge spike in fuel, etc. I presume our hobby could get very expensive at an inopportune time.

Let's look back and see what benefits have come out of the labor movement in this country:Child Labor lawsWorker's Injury Compensation laws40 hour work weekJob protection lawsOvertime lawsAnti hiring discrimination lawsFamily Medical Leave...and many others.

Even if you don't have a union job, you are alreadyreaping hard won benefits from the labor movement.(And no doubt taking them for granted as something that "just is",such a Workmans Comp).Many people lost their lives fighting for these rights in thelate 19th and early 20th century. The history of the labor movement in the U.S.A.is rife with violent and lethal encounters with goonshired by big business.

If our economy goes in the dumper, there's going to be a whole lot of other countries going right along with us including China.

Indeed.

I suggest doing something called a risk analysis, where you weight the probability and consequences of various bad things, and then make plans to prevent or mitigate them. Ham radio is only one part of the communication component of such a plan.Interestingly, when you do this risk analysis, you'll most likely find that a house fire is one of the first things you should be prepared for. After that comes crime or natural disasters, depending on which area you're living in.It is pretty interesting to fantasize about the "s*** hitting the fan" in a big doomsday scenario - and it may happen - but if you're prepared for the more likely disasters, you are also largely prepared for the huge ones.

If the economy collapses, what good will ham radio do? Not that I'm advising against having ham radio gear, but ham radio gear isn't going to get you through an economic collapse.

The big worry about a collapse is being able to live off of your cash flow and savings until the economy picks up again. You do that by eliminating your personal debt (house, credit cards, car payments, etc.) and saving money. The people who got hurt during the Depression (and who've been hurt in the Great Recession we're going through) are those who were over-extended, lost their jobs, and then lost their house, cars, etc. The people who lost their jobs but had enough cash to tide them over until they could find a new job are okay (I'm one of those).

The politicians don't like it, but most Americans have been paying off their credit cards, consolidating their loans and paying THEM off, and generally living within their means and paying down debt. This may not be the best thing for Wall Street, but it is certainly good for Main Street.

BTW, the Chinese are in a bind, too. They can't stop buying our debt, like the bankers who were so invested in Trump that they couldn't NOT loan him more money when he was struggling... because if he went under they'd go under. The same is true of the US and China... if we go under they're coming with us. Along with the rest of the world. No, the challenge to America is to make sure that the struggling economies in Europe don't pull us down, too. And, that we get our own financial house in order as a nation and as individuals.

Sorry you got that the wrong way round your failing banking system pulled the rest of us into the crap we are in now . The world needs to wean itself of of the USA then we can get sorted out

I dunno, Pete. Last I checked the US Fed bailed many EU banks out (including Swiss UBS and the UK's Barclay's), to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, in an attempt to shore up the EU economy.

With what has happened in Greece and what's happening now in Portugal and Ireland... and what's about to happen in Spain, it unfortunately appears that the hammer is soon to fall on the EU. We won't be able to help you because we've shot our bolt and the little money we have left will need to stay in the USA.

Don't want to come across as a paranoid, but for operational security reasons one should not go into too much detail as far as what kind of preps they have made. Especially on a forum where with minimal effort you can be identified and located. Not everyone out there is as nice as we all are. For them preps could just be a rifle, some ammo and the addresses of people that have food, water, and generators etc.

You are exactly right... I posted this earlier and will here again. I have no go kit, only a go away kit that makes people I don't want around go away, one way or another. My first priority is my family, then my neighbor... the rest of you need to stay away when the fit hits the shan. I am not going to come run around with you and your lightbar fitted minivan trying to impose my superior communications knowledge on the local LEO and fire depts. They don't want my help and don't need my help as a ham radio operator, and have indicated as such when I discussed it with them. The depth of communications coverage and backup level is 13 systems deep and fire i covered by simplex low band if all that fails. At that point, no one is left to save anyhow. And I promise you that the fire and LEO's will have gone home long before it gets to that point.

If the entire communications infrastructure goes down then you probably won't have any power either. With no power I have no water and no sewage - I don't think an HT will be my primary concern.

Since I live in the woods have a couple of generators, lots of gasoline, a well and electric pump some batteries and 2 meter and HF capabilities do ya think I will be Okay ? Oh yea got food n guns too

Batteries and gasoline could become scarce soon after a nuclear exchange. Make sure you have back up electrical power that includes solar cells as well as generators that can be powered by a river or a stream, or driven by steam from a wood burning fire.

Nuclear exchange? How did we get from a rather uneducated fearmonger spewing ignorance about economics to a nuclear exchange? I'd be more concerned about the steam driven electricity generator (really?) exploding than anything Glen Beck has to say.

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